Category: monthly liam

He:

>Has one tiny little bottom tooth poking through. You can’t really see it but rub your finger over his gum and you’ll get poked. :)

>Chews everything in sight. Especially my face and hair.

>Can be pretty vocal at times. He still rarely cries, but sometimes he just likes to yell for the fun of it.

>Is still huge. 95th percentile, did I mention that?

>Has become very purposeful with his movements and grabbing. We really have to watch what we leave close by him.

>Loves food. Any kind.

>Still isn’t very close to crawling. He hasn’t even pushed up all the way yet. I think he just has so much weight to lift that it’s hard for him. :)

>Has a nickname – “Rocky.” Meredith came up with it for who knows what reason.

>Took a nap in the crib once. It was his first time ever to be in the crib at home.

I:

>Am so happy about the kids’ new room, and now I need to tackle the prospect of getting them to sleep in their own beds at night.

>Have a difficult time holding Liam these days because of the intense hair-pulling that immediately happens.

>Worry about having enough breastmilk to send to daycare each day. I only have a few bags on reserve and lately I don’t seem to be keeping up.

>Am worn out from the past week and a half. We had a slow summer at work but things are definitely picking up and I’m feeling it, especially when I’m running the clinic alone. Add to that a sick husband and a dramatic toddler and I need a long nap.

>Have been “off” on my morning routine. The kids have been waking up early again (as in 5-5:15 a.m.) so I’m not getting much, if any, time alone. David is leaving for work an hour earlier due to traffic. It’s led to really hectic mornings and a feeling of chaos inside of me.

>Really look forward to getting a real camera. I’m feeling the limitations of my iPhone a lot these days.

>Think I want to do mostly handmade gifts for Christmas this year, so I need to start planning that now.

>Also need to plan for all the birthdays that happen in January, including David’s and Liam’s first!

Meredith has been calling him her baby lately. She’s either loving on him or pushing/hitting him. Sigh. But at least he’s learning to fight back in his own way:

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Meredith at 8 months

He: 

>Still has the bump on his head from his vacuum-assisted birth attempt. I’m wondering if it’ll ever go away at this point.

>Was in the 95th percentile for weight at his last checkup.

>Dropped a bottle per day in favor of baby food.

>Is eating mostly jarred baby food, when he eats solids, since we had a bunch given to us and that’s what they have at daycare.

>Has no teeth, and doesn’t seem to be actively teething yet.

>Is in an awkward stage for bathing where he doesn’t fit his infant tub but he’s not stable enough to go in the big tub with Meredith.

>Still sucks his thumb often, and likes to have something else in his fist at the same time, like my hair or David’s headphones.

>Is Meredith’s best friend (according to her).

I:

>Am up  to at least two cups of coffee a day.

>Have completed two weeks of half marathon training and think my hospital employee gym is the best thing ever. It’s totally free for us, the equipment is really nice, and there is a weekly yoga class at the perfect time for me.

>Do look forward to some cooler weather so I can start running outside again, though.

>Just finished my epic summer novel and am moving on to some YA.

>Went to my first quilt guild meeting over the weekend and was totally awed and inspired. Trying to convince myself that I am fine using my ancient sewing machine with no walking foot and that the dozens of puckers and mistakes on my quilt don’t matter.

>Keep pinching myself that I work at such a great place. It’s so low stress and close and I have an amazing boss and coworkers.

>Love being a mom to little ones and of course don’t ever want them to grow up, but all this back-to-school stuff lately has me looking forward to that phase of life. I just try to enjoy every stage because they are all awesome for one reason or another and I wouldn’t want my children to be any age other than what they are right now.

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Meredith at 7 months

He:

>Has his six-month checkup Friday, but according to our home scale he weighs about 20 pounds. He is in 9-12 month clothes and size 4 diapers! (He wears cloth during the day and disposables at night.)

>Started on baby food last week! So far he’s just had a few bites and isn’t sure quite what to do with it.

>Is extremely grabby and is finally enjoying sitting in his jumper toy sometimes.

>Really is too big for his infant tub now, so I’m gonna have to graduate him to the big tub.

>Holds his own bottle.

>Loves tummy time now that he can really push up, but he’s starting to be a real roly poly.

>Is an early riser and since he still sleeps next to me in bed, he senses anytime I am getting up and wakes up at the same time…even if it is 4:30am! I’ve given up on “alone” time in the mornings and instead let him play happily on his play mat while I do my thing.

>Went for his first swim this month.

>Is still just the happiest, calmest baby for the most part.

I:

>Am most definitely making these lactation cookies this weekend (now that I can have them again)! I want to keep nursing Liam for quite awhile longer, so I do want to keep my pumping output up (it’s been dropping over the past month, but picked up again recently – yay).

>Have a lot less anxiety about starting him on solids than I did with Meredith. Now I know that it doesn’t mean he won’t want to nurse anymore, and the two can happily coexist for a long time. Also, I am a lot more confident with cooking and preparing real food for my family now (thank you whole30!) so feeding kiddos doesn’t scare me anymore.

>Need to set up his baptism.

>Am thinking more about setting up a new room for Meredith to move into (so hopefully she will start sleeping in her own bed) and then maybe we could reclaim the crib for Liam. I don’t know. It’s overwhelming!

>Do know that a toy purge needs to happen. I think this should be a thing prior to every birthday and Christmas.

>Have been thinking a lot about productivity systems. I have a lot of little routines and systems and tools that I use, but I would like to put them all together to have something more comprehensive. Eventually I want to try and create my own customized notebook that works in the way I think. I’m researching and planning a lot lately. I love productivity and using time efficiently because as a working mom I have to use my time well in order to be able to rest. I don’t love being busy for the sake of busyness or achievement. I just want to live a full, balanced life.

And for fun…a little video where you can see how ticklish he is. :)

http://youtu.be/Dt9wWTfFRHw

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Meredith at 6 months

He:

>Has become pretty vocal! I guess he realized that he has to make himself heard around here.

>Had a pretty bad diaper rash for about two weeks before I finally realized it was fungal and the new cream kicked in. Now it has improved a lot but is still stubbornly hanging on. (Side note: ask for recommendations for diaper rash on Facebook and you will get more comments than all of your other posts combined. It was awesome.)

>Grabs himself (you know what I mean) constantly during diaper changes. At first I just thought he was itchy, but now I think it’s a boy thing.

>Loves his feet. And I love the adorable little bundle he becomes when he’s holding them.

>Kind of plays with toys now; at least he will grab at them and put them in his mouth.

>Has no problem being passed around from person to person. As long as he’s being held, he’s usually happy.

>Probably wants to go to sleep earlier every evening than he gets to. We can’t juggle two different bedtimes though, so he deals with it.

>Isn’t very good at sitting up yet. In the Bumbo he still slumps to the side and his legs get stuck and he just doesn’t seem to enjoy it in general.

>Doesn’t always care for these photoshoots.

I:

>Get really overdramatic and anxious from time to time that I’m missing his babyhood when Meredith is in her needy moods. There are times when I feel like I barely hold him for days except to nurse. But she’s been better lately about letting me hold him, and I am glad that her phases are usually short-lived.

>Have learned the secret to drinking more water, and it’s a cup with a straw. I’ve really been able to get nearly 64 oz a day down easily since making this discovery, and I think my milk supply has increased too!

>Feel incredibly accomplished every time I trim the kids’ fingernails. Doesn’t matter if everything else is a wreck, I feel so much better whenever they’re cut.

>Really hope to cut back on Meredith’s sugar intake and not make the same mistakes with Liam. Now that I know more about it, we are going to phase out the sugary, carby snacks and eat more real food at home.

>Am still in denial about our whole sleeping situation aka the family bed. It’s fine, we all sleep, but it can’t go on forever and I don’t even know where to start to change it.

>Can’t believe that Liam is bigger than Meredith was at this age. The stats say so, but in comparing the photos she just looks SO much chubbier.

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Meredith at 5 months

He:

>Laughs! Sometimes! Well…he’s done it a few times anyway.

>Also smiles at anyone that looks him in the face.

>Wears 6-9 month clothes, but is in between the small and medium diaper sizes, so he tends to leak at the moment. I have to send at least three pairs of pants with him each day just in case.

>Still has the bump on his head from his cephalohematoma. Supposedly it will reabsorb eventually, but it’s going very slowly. I like to rub it.

>Loves the mirror.

>Can roll over both ways (mobility is coming)!!

>Is a squirmer.

>Constantly has his hands in his mouth, but he hasn’t started producing too much drool yet.

>Sleeps well almost every night to the point where if he doesn’t I get worried about his health.

>Has such a great old man hairline.

I:

>Am trying to get Liam to attach to a lovey, just because I think it’s cute. And he does seem a little calmer when he has something like that to grab onto.

>Like putting him in these one piece romper things.

>Am running in a 5k race this coming weekend, but I haven’t run that far yet. I think I can do it though.

>Finally got some quilt batting, and some supplies for another project I’m excited about.

>Went through clothes that my mom had saved from when my brothers and I were little. Some of them are so dorky, but it’s crazy how familiar they are. Some of them I took home for my kids which is pretty neat. :)

>Think I need to acquire a camera separate from my iPhone.

>Need to do another “day in the life” soon.

>Remain grateful for what a calm, happy baby Liam is in general. I thought that since Meredith was such a good baby I was surely going to get a hard one next. With all of our other stresses over the last few months, I can’t imagine adding a colicky baby to that mix. He just goes with the flow and adds a lot of happiness to our lives.

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Meredith at 4 months